Buffalo Bisons
The Buffalo Bisons are a minor league baseball team based in Buffalo, New York which plays in the International League (IL). They are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. The Bisons play at Coca-Cola Field, located in downtown Buffalo. The current incarnation of the Bisons was founded in 1979, when Buffalo ownership interests purchased the Jersey City A's of the Double-A Eastern League and moved the team to the city. Team history The history of teams known as the Buffalo Bisons dates to a major league club, the Buffalo Bisons of the National League, who played from 1879 to 1885. In 1886, the Bisons moved into minor league baseball as members of the original International League. (An "outlaw" team also known as the Buffalo Bisons also played in the Players' League, an upstart third major league, in 1890, but that team not currently considered part of the Bisons history.) This team joined the Western League in 1899, and was within weeks of becoming a major league team when the Western League announced it was changing its name to the American League in 1900. However, by the start of the 1901 season, Buffalo had been bumped from the league in favor of the Boston Americans; the Bisons returned to the minors that year. This franchise continued in the IL (known as the Eastern League from 1891 to 1911) through June 11, 1970, when it transferred to Winnipeg, Manitoba as the Winnipeg Whips, due to poor attendance and stadium woes. In 1969, Héctor López became the first black manager at the Triple-A level while managing Buffalo Bisons—six years before Frank Robinson became the first black manager in Major League Baseball. After stops in Winnipeg and Hampton, Virginia, the team was suspended after the 1973 season to make way for the Memphis Blues. The Bisons name was revived when a Double-A Eastern League franchise moved to Buffalo in 1979. That team assumed the previous Bisons team history. After six seasons in the Eastern League, the Bisons rejoined the Triple-A ranks in 1985, joining the American Association when the Wichita Aeros' franchise rights were transferred to Buffalo. When, as part of a reorganization of Triple-A baseball, the American Association folded after the 1997 season, Buffalo joined the International League. In their current incarnation, the Bisons have made the playoffs twice. In 2004, the team came back from being 10 games out of first-place in late June to winning their division by a convincing 9½ games. Buffalo won its first-round playoff, against the Durham Bulls, and advanced to the Governors' Cup Finals, in which they had home field advantage over the Richmond Braves. The remnants of Hurricane Ivan caused major flooding problems in Richmond and the entire series was played in Buffalo. The Bisons defeated the Braves in four games and won the Governors' Cup for the second time since 1998. In 2005, Buffalo won the North Division and played the Indianapolis Indians in the first round, winning the first two games in Indianapolis, but losing all three remaining games. With many of its players shuffled to the Cleveland Indians throughout the final months of the season, the Bisons failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2006. In 2007, Buffalo failed once again to clinch a playoff spot, marking the first time since Buffalo was parented with the Pittsburgh Pirates that the Bisons missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. The Mets era After the 2008 season, Buffalo parted ways with the Cleveland, as the Indians signed an affiliation agreement with the Columbus Clippers beginning in 2009. The Bisons then signed a two-year agreement to be the top home for New York Mets prospects."Buffalo Bisons and New York Mets sign player development contract" New York Mets. September 22, 2008. Retrieved on September 28, 2008. On December 16, 2008, the Mets officially announced that Ken Oberkfell will be the Bisons new manager for 2009. At the same press conference, the Bisons also unveiled their new logo. The logo pays homage to baseball's 123 year history in the city of Buffalo with the city's skyline in the background. The logo, along with the new colors of blue and orange, closely resemble that of the team's new parent club, the Mets."Bisons Unveil New Primary Logo" Buffalo Bisons. December 16, 2008. Retrieved on December 17, 2008. In the 2009–2010 offseason, the Bisons were picked to hold the 2012 Triple-A All-Star Game to celebrate 25 years at Coca-Cola Field. Year-by-year records Titles The Bisons have won the Governors' Cup, the championship of the IL, 6 times, including the inaugural Cup, and played in the championship series 10 times. *1933 – Defeated Rochester *1936 – Defeated Baltimore *1938 – Lost to Newark *1947 – Lost to Syracuse *1949 – Lost to Montréal *1957 – Defeated Miami *1961 – Defeated Rochester *1998 – Defeated Durham *2002 – Lost to Durham *2004 – Defeated Richmond Since 1998 the Bisons have won the IL North Division four times (1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005). They have also won the Thruway Cup, a regular-season competition between Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse, six times since its inception in 1998. Current roster Notable alumni Former Bisons in the majors in 2009 (former Bisons players who have participated in at least one MLB game in 2009) *Danys Báez (Baltimore Orioles) *Josh Bard (Washington Nationals) *Rafael Betancourt (Colorado Rockies) *Milton Bradley (Chicago Cubs) *Russell Branyan (Seattle Mariners) *Tim Byrdak (Houston Astros) *Asdrúbal Cabrera (Cleveland Indians) *Fausto Carmona (Cleveland Indians) *Shin-Soo Choo (Cleveland Indians) *Bartolo Colón (Chicago White Sox) *Chris Coste (New York Mets) *Coco Crisp (Kansas City Royals) *Trevor Crowe (Cleveland Indians) *Chad Durbin (Philadelphia Phillies) *Alan Embree (Colorado Rockies) *Ben Francisco (Philadelphia Phillies) *Ryan Garko (San Francisco Giants) *Jody Gerut (Milwaukee Brewers) *Brian Giles (San Diego Padres) *Jeremy Guthrie (Baltimore Orioles) *Franklin Gutiérrez (Seattle Mariners) *Travis Hafner (Cleveland Indians) *Bobby Howry (San Francisco Giants) *Maicer Izturis (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) *Zach Jackson (Cleveland Indians) *Kevin Kouzmanoff (San Diego Padres) *Aaron Laffey (Cleveland Indians) *Cliff Lee (Philadelphia Phillies) *Jensen Lewis (Cleveland Indians) *Ryan Ludwick (St. Louis Cardinals) *Andy Marté (Cleveland Indians) *Víctor Martínez (Boston Red Sox) *Darnell McDonald (Boston Red Sox) *John McDonald (Toronto Blue Jays) *Jason Michaels (Houston Astros) *Edward Mujica (San Diego Padres) *Jhonny Peralta (Detroit Tigers) *Rafael Pérez (Cleveland Indians) *Brandon Phillips (Cincinnati Reds) *Manny Ramírez (Chicago White Sox) *David Riske (Milwaukee Brewers) *C.C. Sabathia (New York Yankees) *Marco Scutaro (Toronto Blue Jays) *Kelly Shoppach (Tampa Bay Rays) *Grady Sizemore (Cleveland Indians) *Brian Tallet (Toronto Blue Jays) *Julián Tavárez (Washington Nationals) *Ramón Vázquez (Pittsburgh Pirates) *Tim Wakefield (Boston Red Sox) *Jamie Walker (Baltimore Orioles) *David Weathers (Milwaukee Brewers) Buffalo Bisons in the National Baseball Hall of Fame Mascots The main mascots of the team have traditionally been Buster T. Bison along with his cousin Chip, but as of 2006, a new mascot named Belle the Ballpark Diva has appeared, along with flamboyant reporter Johnny $tyles. Buster and Belle pursued a love interest, and were married following the August 26, 2007 game against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. The Most popular and athletic Mascot in the Buster Bison Mascot history was performed by a local gymnast, Rick McKay. He had a big following with both the kids and the fans alike. He regularly did break dancing to Michael Jackson music between innings. Also, he performed gymnastic stunts throughout each game. He was the last Mascot in the Bison's old War Memorial Stadium, and the first to perform at the then new, Rich Stadium. Buster and Chip wear Bisons jerseys and caps. Buster's number was the last two numbers of the season up to 2009,however, as of the 2010 season his number is 83.(in 2007 his number was 07). Chip's number has always been 1/2. The Bisons have had a number of other mascots in the past. MicroChip, who was smaller and presumably "younger" than Buster and Chip, wore a Bisons jersey as well. His number was 1/4. Loudmouth, a mime played by actress Tracey B. Wilson, was another mascot for the team. The other official mascot of the Bisons was Howie the Ump. He wore a costume much like Buster and Chip, but it was a costume of a human umpire, with an umpire's uniform and mask. He was very short lived, existing only during the 1995–1997 seasons. Other unofficial Bisons include Conehead, a beer vendor who wears a rubber conehead hat, and The Earl of Bud, another beer vendor, who during the third inning would climb on the dugout and dance. His last appearance was at the 20th Anniversary game for Dunn Tire Park in August 2007. Also a longtime challenged fan named "hamburger" can be seen behind home plate making his opinion known throughout the ballpark. There is also the Kevin the "K-man." Kevin is a fan with season tickets, who sits in the upper deck, and hangs a green "K" sign every time a Bisons pitcher records a strikeout. He puts the sign up backwards when the batter is called out looking, just as in baseball scorekeeping. Media/game broadcasts All Bisons games can be heard on WWKB-AM in Buffalo and many games are televised on Time Warner Cable SportsNet throughout Western New York. Ben Wagner handles play by play while veteran Duke McGuire is color commentator. In 2010, Justin Sheinis was added to the broadcast team. He will call some play-by-play and color commentary as well as host nearly every pre- and post-game show for the season. He will also put together video package and write feature articles for the Bisons team website, bisons.com. New for 2010, Friday games will air as a Game of the Week package on WGR. These games will be a simulcast of those airing on WWKB. Also, Buffalo Bisons games are sometimes aired on SportsNet New York, which is co-owned by Time Warner Cable and the New York Mets (as well as Comcast). Category:New York Mets Category:International League Category:IL North Category:AAA Team